ennorathfandomcom-20200216-history
Adris Bellfist
Adris Bellfist was a dwarven artificer of some fame during the Golden Age of dwarven civilization. Adris was born in the village of Helmfast and later came to be buried there, in a tomb not far from the village (10 stones throw, e.g. a mile away). The Tomb Built during the height of the dwarven technological revolution (the Golden Age), the tomb houses the remains of Adris Bellfist, an engineer who originally lived in Helmfast, a dwarven village not far away. There are many inscriptions on the tomb, which speak of Adris's accomplishments and life, in the form of a long (and well composed) dwarven ballad: *Was born in Helmfast, "not but 10 stones throw from here" *Showed an aptitude for smithing, learned from their father, and a gift for magic that had not before been seen in the Bellfist bloodline *Was sponsored by the Redhelm family, who praised Adris's work and allowed them to tinker with what objects they had in their household *Went to Baruuk to learn at the Eldritch Academy there, at the urging of the House Redhelm *Invented the Fabrial Core *Made great contributions to the application of Prime Runes in divine magic *Discovered the "applied Magic" rune *Applied the Fabrial Core to the Astral Pact Armada *Retired to Baruuk to live out their days in smithing *Called for peace between the nations *Died of a sickness that was unidentifiable, which many tried to cure (ley sickness) *asked to be buried here Journal 3102, Janar 23 This is a record I write for the future, for that is my greatest concern now. I am old, and have lived long and fully, but the more I understand the more I realize that we may have discovered something far greater than we ever imagined. Perhaps a student of mine will teach when I am gone, and learn from these notes. I wish that student luck, in deciphering the ramblings of my mind, which I struggle to express on paper. The arcane has a logic to it that is not easily expressed to those who do not already know. 3102, Novis 13 I haven’t written in a bit of a while – a pressing matter has dragged away all my attention. Lenore badgered me to write of it, he thinks it’s important enough to devote the time. I’d rather be working on something a bit more useful… but I’ll attempt to explain. There is a spreading blight on the land. Crops not growing, trees losing their will to live. Portals to chaos are opening, and violent beings of other planes invade. The life of the land about us is being leeched away, and it is not just localized to our vicinity; the entire realm is suffering from this. The very earth beneath our city is more brittle. I am not the first to notice; it’s in fact the subject of much pointless debate and politics. Even our own academy board is wrapped up in it. They deliberate and hum and haw at it all, but I – I am taking action. This will be my task, my final work: discovering a way to solve what will surely become a serious problem. The leaders of our nation would not understand why I wish to focus on this when we might have a war on our hands. They will say I can serve our nation best by inventing more deadly war machines. Of course they would. But I’ll not be telling them of what I am funneling their funds towards – not until I have a solution. This could doom us all if unchecked. 3103, Janar 3 The situation is more worrying than I first knew. Not only is the physical world being affected, but the leylines are beginning to falter. A couple of our cites’ enchantments have failed because of this, which hasn’t been a concern since I can remember. What’s worse, our sending spells and stones aren’t behaving properly – sometimes several words are missing, sometimes the whole message never reaches the target. These things must be connected in some way. I’m ordering my researchers to accelerate their work. I sent Mitula to negotiate with the Aasimari archivists on Meridia to acquire a map of any disturbances they’ve recorded – maybe the rifts opening everywhere have patterns to their forming that none have seen yet, or maybe we can travel through them to their source. 3103, Janar 30 Mitula has returned from Meridia – she obtained what records the Aasimari had, but they do not show much more than what we’ve already found ourselves. The aasimari are also experiencing the same issues with sending enchantments, which we already suspected. Mitula says one of the archivists spoke about a colony of druids that came from the Feywild, protecting an island close to Vander. These druids are attuned to land – perhaps they know of a way to save ours. I’m sending a skyship to seek them out and ask for their help. 3103, May 22 The project is growing more needy. My apprentices are competent, but too limited. Our efforts to find the druids have failed, and we can’t afford to waste more resources on that right now. We also cannot find the source of these disturbances, and I fear that they may not even be originating from this plane. An expedition is necessary. I’ve heard the faintest rumors that Alinor and Risilia are of a similar mind, and that they too suffer similar effects… perhaps they will be of some more assistance than our own bureaucracy? The Lords have been asking after me, investigating what I’ve been doing. They brought a contract: if I accept, I’d be devoting my energy to finding a way to store mass amounts of magical energy. I told them I’d think on it, and accept if I thought it possible to do. In light of their intrusion, I’m moving the bulk of my latest research work to a new lab, where they will not find it if the time isn’t right. 3103, Decris 14 Much has been done since the last entry, not all of it worth mentioning. It’s all culminated in the final preparations for a full research expedition into the rifts. We’ve created a new cruiser, one designed to withstand rift travel. She’s state of the art, but very expensive. What a lovely Winter’s Crest gift to ourselves and our cause! Lenore’s in charge of the first expedition, we’re going to test the ship in a large, relatively safe rift we found in the Reach, apparently leading to Skaia. 3104, Janar 3 Mission was a success, and the cruiser performs admirably – I’ll need to adjust the fabrial cores a bit to tune out the chaotic energy more effectively. We gathered samples of the magic and elemental air streaming around the area, and captured a rogue elemental for study. The samples are not noticeably different from our expectations in potency or purity, but the elemental shows a more violent side than we have seen in an unbound creature. Further expeditions into the other planes are required. 3104, Julius 18 Over the past few months our team has grown considerably, and my students do me proud. I’ve got Kaplan working with us now, she’s been working on some golem prototypes for research and management, to do the data observation and arithmancy for us – she’s already made 6 prototypes, each better than the last. We have two more cruisers now, thanks to all the new recruits. We’re practically our own guild at this point – imagine that. We’ve fitted the cruisers with a new device, my own personal achievement – I call it the Fabrial Core. It’s made of three smaller component fabrials, which utilize moonsilver shells and slot into a larger directive frame. The metal isn’t easy to come by, but it attracts ambient magic like nothing else, and it seems to be the most effective at channeling and containing the chaotic energy of the rifts. Each of the individual fabrials can be exchanged and reconfigured depending on the task at hand. Ironically, this sort of fabrial could be utilized to do exactly what the Lords want: my creations breathe and direct magic as if they were leylines themselves. The potential of this device is amazing, and if we were not working against time I would explore the possibilities of this engine – I believe if fully realized that it could literally reshape the environment around it. For now, we will use it against the rifts, and try to avert this disaster. 3104, Novis 2 I’m now writing from Helmfast, my old hometown. Mitula came with me, she insisted - we're working together from here to keep the Lords off our backs. Lenore is managing most of the work these days anyways, and he's been doing well without me. The new laboratory here is humble, but it has what’s necessary to continue my work while I still live. I grow weary… this work has worsted me. We've got one cruiser and instruments to study the differences in the magic out here - the rifts have been far calmer around this mountain so far. Maybe we can figure out why. 3105, Mars 9 Our work has taken a different turn out of need lately – with our members spread as thinly as they are, and the rifts becoming more dangerous and frequent, we need more advanced tools at our disposal. We thought to buy more, smaller ships, but our contacts in the navy and in the Aasimari state won’t sell us any of their vessels right now (fucking pact politics), and merchant-class vessels aren’t of sufficient quality. The next best thing is fitting our existing cruisers with better tech and reducing the crew needed. I’ve been working on some new fabrials to integrate with the Core – the potential is staggering. What if we could convert the very rift energy itself, or utilize it to create our own, more stable portals? If my calculations are correct, such things should be possible – after all, the Teleportation Circle spell exists, albeit an archaic and dated technique. Perhaps there’s more Prime Runes to be found here… 3105, May 19 We found the druidic isle, the one the Aasimari spoke of almost two years ago, on our last voyage. Whether by accident, or by fate’s choice, I am still not sure. The natives of the isle – Pal Tiya, they call it – were definitely fey beings skilled in nature magic. They were creatures of all sorts, wild and unfamiliar, but they were all united in their hostility and unwillingness to help us. They said we were too late, and should have come years sooner. They said we should be preparing to weather what is to come instead of trying to stop it. The cold tone in their inhuman faces still makes me shiver… and I can’t help but fear they are right. 3105, Julius 4 Let the House lords talk all they want about war and magical reserves – I’ve tried shouting and knocking some sense into them, but it’s like pushing a mule from behind – it’ll never move AND it’ll give you shit meanwhile. The rest of the Pact peoples have been equally unhelpful; the Aasimari have politely declined to negotiate, and the elves didn’t respond at all. I’m not sure which response maddens me more. We lost Mitula. Her whole crew and cruiser too. They had set out to a large rift near Baruuk, which was consuming the landscape. They sent a message warning of an enormous, angry fire elemental just after breaching the rift, and then activated their Fabrial Core and closed the tear. May the gods commend their souls. That was more than a week ago. We were fools to think we could control these rifts, that much is true. Now we will work to save our people where our lords will not - it's time to put Kaplan's soulstone theories to the test. 3105, Septim 12 The magic in the very air grows tense, and the rifts are appearing more frequently than ever, and (as I’ve heard from Lenore and Kaplan) worst in Ordrunn. I’ve sent word where I can, but few will listen to me. To think my work should come to this… Some have heeded my warnings and evacuated, but too many stay. I pray that they will be saved… I have made my preparations. I give my own soul to guard this place, and Lenore is preparing to do the same for the Makathis lab. In the event that my colleagues do not succeed in solving this instability, then who knows what will happen. The most prudent action I can take is to seal my laboratories against whatever may come, and no other soul will bond as strongly to the stone here. Whomever you are, if you are reading this, use any knowledge you find here wisely. Maybe it can bring our people to prosperity and stability once more. Moradin guide us and protect us… Letters from Lenore 3104, Decim 7 Makathis Lab, Vander Elan Lenore Acting Chief Researcher Master Adris, it is our hope that this missive finds you well. Our own tidings bode ill for our kindreds. The Riftwalkers scouting the portals in central Ordrunn have sent us reports that prove the instability is unmistakably growing. The tears across the planes are growing larger, and bleeding magical and elemental chaos to a great degree. Magical energy within the portals is flowing through to our realms at an alarming pace. We have found portals to all of the elemental realms, including one to the Chaos of Pandemonium. Three portals we have found thus far seem to lead to realms of demons, and four of our best died while we sealed these. At one of these rifts, which we found in the upper highlands some 50 miles from Garoth and sealed, there was evidence of tampering – some creature had left a talisman there that was attuned to that abyssal plane, and was encouraging the rift to grow and tear. It appeared to use the prime runes, though with an arrangement most unusual – I’ve included their inscription here: This leads me to believe that perhaps there is an element of truth to the propaganda, and something is working against us from within the Pact. More evidence has yet to be found on this count, but I’ve been examining the notes from other expeditions in case there are other such findings. But, master, there is so much we do not yet know about these happenings. Beyond the facts here, I feel in my own heart that this is a battle we cannot win like this. We must focus our efforts on surviving what is to come, rather than trying to prevent it. We did not see the signs soon enough, and we know too little to adequately counteract the rifts. If we put a military spin on that, perhaps we can convince the Lords in Garoth to fund such defensive measures. I have prepared emissaries to speak with them, but I do not wish to act without your approval, as the leader of our efforts. Please respond with your thoughts. 3105, Junis 2 Makathis Lab, Vander Elan Lenore___ Acting Chief Researcher Master Adris, I can only hope your investigations are progressing better than ours. The lab here in Mount Makathis is being besieged from all sides at the moment. We have messages from the Lords in Baruuk and now from Alinor as well, all demanding that we take a stand with their political factions. We also have creatures from the shadow plane regularly invading our area, forcing us to deal with them for our own safety. It would seem to prove Alnon’s Mirror Theory, because the frequency of these invasions and the data we collect from those rifts suggests that the shadow plane is closely linked to Vander. It would be risky to calculate based on that hypothesis, but it is worthy of note at least. Grisna Kaplan’s cruiser was badly damaged in the last incursion, but not destroyed. Her golems are capable of doing the repairs themselves, so I’ve tasked them with that while we researchers worry about the arcana. Unfortunately, the damage is so extensive that it will be months at least before the cruiser is finished. Curiously, the golems we are using are unaffected by the changes in the leystream. Kaplan’s working theory for this is that the soul magic used to create the golems is wholly disconnected from the ley energy of the planes. We’ve been running tests on them and on some common soulstones of hers, and so far they are also immune to the ley magic. Perhaps we can make use of this seeming property in the future, or to safeguard areas from rift damage. I've devoted some labor and resources to crafting a fabrial with this purpose, and it should be ready in a few weeks. Attached is my proposed blueprint, which I believe appropriately compensates for the chaotic rune we discovered by means of the Intent imprinted within. However, for the primary enchantment I think we will need to use traditional runic inscription, since there doesn’t seem to be a proper “soul” rune in the Prime Rune system. We’ve theorized that it exists, but each time we try to ascertain it using your Prime Divination, we seem to arrive back at Intent as the result. Any light you could shed on the subject would be most appreciated, master. We await your response. Category:AR Lore